lgbt – Trans Studies Archive

While the birth of skateboarding created a community for outsiders, it has historically been full of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and misogyny. Trans and queer skaters along with allies of the community have been tirelessly working towards creating inclusive spaces for skaters across the globe. This archive will highlight collectives and skaters that have been put in the spotlight and in return have helped pave the way for many non-traditional skateboarders.

UNITY / THERE

Unity Skateboarding is a queer skateboarding collective created by Jeffery Cheung, a skateboarder and artist from the SF Bay Area. In 2017, Jeffery had an idea to create an all-inclusive skate company after skating with other queer people for the first time in his life. He set a goal to reach other queer skaters outside of his immediate circle and soon enough, the project took off. Unity started as a DIY project with hand painted decks by Jeffery and small groups of people gathering in the Bay Area for queer skate sessions. In 2022, the collective became part of Deluxe Distribution, one of the biggest skateboarding distribution companies, sitting next to other big brands like Anti-Hero, Krooked, and Spitfire. The queer skate sessions now attract hundreds of skaters and have spread to different cities across the world. There Skateboards formed quickly after Unity as a way to create a solidified skate team and board company. Both Unity and There have done tremendous amounts of work in carving out spaces and creating platforms for queer and trans skaters.

SKATERS

Marbie Miller, Leo Baker, Shag. Photo credit Norma Ibarra, Schoen Johannes, Justin Ching.

Marbie is a skateboarder and artist from a small town in Iowa and currently resides in Oakland, California. She is pro for There Skateboards and is sponsored by CCS, Spitfire Wheels, and Krux Trucks. Marbie is known for her creative bag of skate tricks inspired by Louie Barletta. She has her own custom shaped board and has done graphics for herself and other skaters. Podcast interview with Marbie: Quell Party Episode 28.

Leo is a 32 year old skateboarder and musician from Covina, California and currently resides in New York City. His interest in skateboarding was sparked by watching his foster brothers skate and he got his first board at the age of two. Leo received his first sponsorship at the age of eleven and signed to Nike SB in 2017. Shortly after, he formed the NYC Skate Project, a community project aimed at uplifting LGBT and women skaters. In February 2020, Leo resigned from the U.S. Women’s Olympic Skate team and publicly came out as trans. Leo co-founded Glue Skateboards with Stephen Ostrowski and Cher Strauberry and the collective launched in November 2020. In 2022, Netflix premiered “Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story”, a documentary that follows Leo through some important life events. In recent news, Nike SB debuted the React Leo shoe this September, marking a major milestone in the industry with the first signature shoe by a trans athlete. Written interview with Leo: LA Times.

Shag is a skateboarder and artist from Omaha, Nebraska and currently lives in Oakland, California. He recently turned pro for There Skateboards and is only the second trans masculine skater to go pro. He is also sponsored by Thunder Trucks and Adidas Skateboarding. Shag has appeared in Thrasher Magazine and was the guest artist for the second issue of alternative skate mag, Mess Magazine.

Cher Strauberry, Efron Danzig, Marie DeCourcy. Photo credit Sean Carabarin, Keith DeBottis, Matt Price.

Cher is a skateboarder, artist, and musician from Antioch, California and currently lives in Oakland, California. Cher is the first trans woman in professional skateboarding and the first trans skater to appear in Thrasher Magazine. She skates for the There Skateboards team and is sponsored by Vans. Before Cher came out as trans, she took about ten years off skating after breaking her ankle three times. After returning to skating, she gained popularity from a quick appearance in Bill Strobeck’s Supreme video “Candyland“. Cher has been playing music both solo and with friends for many years. From 2018-2023, Cher was in a punk band called Twompsax. Written interview with Cher: SOLO Skate Mag.

Efron is a skateboarder, musician, and model living in New York City. She is sponsored by Thunder Trucks and is part of Bill Strobeck’s international skate team, Violet. If you’re a fan of Sinead O’Connor (R.I.P.), be sure to check out Efron’s part in Strobeck’s “The Butterfly“. Written interview with Efron: heckride.

Marie is a skateboarder and musician living in the Bay Area. She skates for There Skateboards and was on the cover of the second issue of Mess Magazine. Marie plays guitar and sings in a two piece noise band called Whine. Written interview with Marie: Place Skateboard Culture.

Brianna Delaney, Arin Lester, Trish McGowan. Photo credit Ben Colen, Atiba Jefferson, Sean Cho.

Brianna is a skateboarder from Boston, Massachusetts. She is part of the Alltimers Skateboards team, Grand Collection, and has done work with Converse CONS. Check out Brianna’s video “Skating Through Transition” – a skate video packed with heavy tricks and feelings about coming out as a trans woman in the skate world.

Arin is a 31 year old skateboarder from the East Coast and she recently turned pro for Sci-Fi Fantasy. Arin started skating around eleven years old and spent six years of her adult life as a Clinical Microbiology Tech. She now skates full-time. Written interview with Arin: Pocket Skate Mag.

Trish is a skateboarder and musician living in the Bay Area. She skates for Glue Skateboards and played bass in Twompsax with Cher Strauberry. Trish currently plays music under Princess520.

Kien Caples, Autumn Berriochoa, Akobi Williams. Photo credit Norma Ibarra, Shane Auckland, Jaime Owens.

Kien is a skateboarder from Southern California and is pro for There Skateboards. They have been skating for about 15 years. Kien is sponsored by Krux Trucks and Converse and is known for their sweet bag of freestyle tricks. Written interview with Kien: Thrasher Magazine.

Autumn is a skateboarder from a small town in Utah and currently resides in Seattle, Washington. She started skating when she was twelve years old. She has worked with Skate Like A Girl and gained popularity on social media through posting short skate tutorials. In 2022, Nike SB worked with SLAG to create a mini documentary called Transenders, highlighting Autumn’s journey as a trans skater and the power of community. Written interview with Autumn: Nike SB.

Akobi is a skateboarder and model living in New York. She skates for Glue Skateboards and EC Melodi.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Brian Anderson, AJ Waters, Skate Like A Girl logo. Photos of Brian and AJ by Bryce Kanights.

Brian is a skateboarder and artist from Connecticut and currently lives in New York. He was Thrasher Magazine’s Skater of the year in 1999. In September 2016, Brian came out as gay in a Vice Sports video, making him the first high profile pro skater to publicly come out as gay. Brian received a tremendous amount of support from tons of skaters after coming out. This was a pivotal moment for the world of skateboarding and arguably a big reason for a spike in acceptance of non-traditional skaters in the community. Brian is good friends with Leo Baker and videos of them skating together can be found in the video archive below.

AJ is from a small town in Illinois and started skating at their local indoor park at twelve years old. After attending Wheels of Fortune in Seattle and visiting All Together Skatepark, AJ was inspired to create an indoor skatepark and skate shop in Portland, Oregon. With the support of the community, AJ’s vision came to life and in April 2019, Stronger Skatepark opened its doors to the public. The response was overwhelmingly positive and Stronger has since expanded, providing around 10,000 square feet of inclusive space for skaters of all abilities and skill levels. The park hosts monthly Women and Trans sessions, Queer Skate nights, and a three day long skate camp for LGBT youth. Stronger continues to be a rock for non-traditional skaters in Portland and surrounding areas. Written interview with AJ: Butter Mag.

Skate Like A Girl is a 501(c)3 non-profit based out of Portland, Seattle, and the SF Bay Area. The organization launched in 2000 after two Evergreen College students were tired of seeing absence of women in skateboarding. SLAG centers non-traditional skateboarders and runs programs and events that help foster a healthy skate community. Each year, they host an event in Seattle called Wheels of Fortune where skaters from across the world join together for a weekend of skating and fun activities. This event is the longest running global gathering for women and/or trans skaters and the upcoming year will mark Wheels of Fortune 12.

VIDEO ARCHIVE

There are so many rad trans skaters across the globe that are not featured on YouTube but I have compiled a playlist of videos and clips of trans skaters that are available on the platform. It is organized in chronological order to showcase how the community has grown within the last few years. I will continue to add videos as time goes on.

Enjoy.

Archive by Sid Elliott Eadie. Sid is a skateboarder and ceramic artist from a small town in Southern Nevada and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Sid found a love for skateboarding at ten years old and is passionate about trans and queer people having a place in the skate world. He is a skate coach at Stronger Skatepark and works with young skaters to create a healthy future for skateboarding.

This comic acted as a catalyst to my question of, “how does language affect, interact and misinterpret transgender phenomena?” Meredith Talusan (the created of the comic) and I spoke for a good 30 minutes over the phone about the intentions of her comic and how language relates to trans issues. Below are the questions I asked Meredith during the interview.

Clarity: How did you come up with this idea?

Meredith: I was out to drink with the Buzzfeed editor Isaac Fitzgerald and I started to think about the two realities presented by cisgender people and transgender people. They each have their own realities and perspectives and I wanted to portray this in a way that was understandable to both. Every Transgender person has their own set of conditions and experiences. I wanted to create a space that these words could be explored in a way that both cis gender people and transgender people could understand.

C: How does language play a part in transgender phenomena?

M: Language allows people to actualize concepts and ideas. It’s difficult to ask cisgender people to modify their language. It’s one of the biggest challenges for trans activists. You have to ask cisgender people to take an extra step to learn new language and terminology, but also to unlearn many old words.

C: Why is language important to transgender phenomena or other trans issues?

M: Reality is shaped from language. Trans people are a marginalized minority, more often than not, transgender people will need to petition to be called a female or male. There is no ability to exercise agency of our own bodies.

C:How can someone learn the correct terminology when talking about trans issues?

M: Language of correctness isn’t the most productive framework to view these issues. There is no perscription for language and these sometimes sensitive issues. There is this underlying construction of language adapted by cisgender people. They have the power to make a misinformed comment about them, for example if a trans person corrects a cisgender person about their language, the cisgender person might say, “oh you are being dramatic” or “I didn’t mean it that way”. These responses become about the cisgender person and their own narrative rather than addressing the larger picture. Language of acknowledgment is the best way to navigate situations like this. Cisgender people have the ability and privilege to correct a trans person, they have the privilege of making a narrative about how sorry they are, or how they “didn’t mean it that way”. When talking about trans politics, the privilege should be given to trans people.

C:Do you think there is a different relationship to language between MTF and FTM transgender people?

M: On the whole each experience is very different for each transgender person. I think MTF bodies are more policed by society than FTM bodies. FTM bodies are under less scrutiny and are not policed as much. This creates a different rhetoric for each person as they interact with society. There is an underlying paradox here, transgender men are able to live with less scrutiny but they are also less understood. They are less policed by others but this leads to less understanding and fewer narratives.

*This interview is not word for word and all answers are adapted from my phone interview with Meredith.

What Cis People Say To Trans People Vs. What We Hear